This post provides links to a number of interesting articles I have read over the past few days that you may also enjoy.

• John Hussman (Hussman Funds): Profiting from the tooth fairy, August 3, 2009. It is a general investment rule that by the time that a particular thesis makes it to the cover of national news magazines, it is largely discounted by the markets. Momentum-based, trend-following, simplistic thinkers with a speculative bent generally do very well during bubble periods (though not over the full cycle). Such analysts are often able to do what we can’t bring ourselves to do, which is to risk other people’s financial security on raw price momentum, or on speculative themes that are contradicted by historical data, or that logically cannot be true.

• Edmund Conway (Telegraph): Economic crisis, and a crisis for economics, July 29, 2009.

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In late January, Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), the world’s most ubiquitous oil giant, capped off a whipsaw year in the global oil markets by reporting net income of $45.2 billion, an all-time record for corporate profits that shattered the former record it had set a year before.

The number was so big and the results beat Wall Street estimates by so much at a time when the credit crisis was wreaking havoc on so many other sectors that Oppenheimer & Sons (NYSE: OPY) oil analyst Fadel Gheit couldn’t help but quip that he didn’t think Exxon “will be lining up for any TARP money or government handout anytime soon.”

Exxon wasn’t the only heavyweight reaping the benefit of a zooming energy market that had seen crude oil climb to an all-time record of $147 a barrel in July. The combined revenue for

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Highlights include American International Group, Inc. (AIG), Bank of America Corp. (BAC), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Citigroup Inc. (C).Regulation for Financial Giants Expected SoonIt has been reported this morning by CNBC that the White House and Congress are working on a legislation that allows the federal government to take over and unwind the businesses of a large financial institutions like AIG (AIG), the way it now can with commercial banks.The regulatory authority similar to the FDIC's so-called "bridge bank" powers was originally sought to be included in a broader reform package addressing systemic risk. But it is now reported to being crafted urgently as a stand-alone legislation in the wake of the public outrage over the AIG bonuses. While reacting to the AIG's bonuses, President Obama talked about "developing tools to prevent ourselves from getting in ...

G20 largely a non-event…  Pound moves up…  Brazil falls on sell off of emerging markets…  Japan enters recession… And Now… Today’s Pfennig! Good day…and welcome back to another work week. I driving into work this morning and started thinking about the growing number of people who no longer have jobs to report to. And the problems are no longer just concentrated on the manufacturing sector. I was shocked at the long list of retail stores which are planning to shut down after the holiday season. The situation in the US economy continues to deteriorate, and unfortunately things are going to get much worse here in the US before they turn around. On that cheery note, I’ll get started.

Leaders from around the world

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Regulating Hedge FundsHedge Fund Regulation Not Needed | FSAThe Financial Services Authority (FSA) said on Wednesday it did not see the need for more regulation of hedge funds, and that most funds had so far weathered recent financial turmoil fairly well."I ... recognise there is pressure for more regulation in a rather general way," FSA Chief Executive Hector Sants told the Hedge 2008 conference."I don't particularly think more regulation is needed, but I do think more effective regulation is needed."His comments come after a number of industry commentators have called for more regulation of hedge funds, which tend to be less transparent than mutual funds. SourceRelated to Hedge Fund Regulation Not Needed | FSA Comments:Geographical Hedge Fund GuidesHedge Fund Employment GuideFinancial Certification...

Move by Deutsche Bank follows similar halting of activities by ProShares and Rydex in the U.S.

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Deutsche Bank's ETF designed to short bank stocks has stopped taking short positions on both the London Stock Exchange and Borsa Italia, and is planning to implement a similar policy with the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Furthermore, the bank short ETF has stopped accepting new investments, and redemptions will be met with a bid price by the fund's provider, Deutsche Bank. While the X-Trackers family of ETFs is available on five European exchanges in all, the bank short ETF is only available on the London, Italian and Frankfurt exchanges.

The DJ STOXX 600 Banks Short X-Trackers ETF (LSE: XS7S) has stopped shorting due to the ban on short selling implemented by the Financial Services Authority, which acted

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Switzerland Hedge FundsGuide to Hedge Funds in SwitzerlandHere is a short collection of articles on the hedge fund industry in Switzerland. I am always looking for more valuable online tools and resources to add to these geographical hedge fund guides to the hedge fund industry. If you have a white paper or PowerPoint that I can include here please send me an email and I will post it for everyone's benefit.Swiss Hedge Fund Resources:This KPMG Article discusses the process of how to set up a hedge fund in Switzerland. Some of the topics been touched on are: Authorization requirement and process, Regulatory capital requirement, Restrictions on ...